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Crediting is rare, there’s a huge gulf in how senior managers and newsdesks talk about it and there’s a significant reliance on news agencies for discovery and verification. These are some of the key takeaways of Amateur Footage: A Global Study of User-Generated Content in TV and Online News Output published today by the Tow Center of Digital Journalism.

The aim of this research project was to provide the first comprehensive report about the use of user-generated content (UGC) among broadcast news channels. UGC being – for this report – photographs and videos captured by people unrelated to the newsroom, who would not describe themselves as professional journalists.

Some of the Principle Findings are:

UGC is used by news organizations daily and can produce stories that otherwise would not, or could not, be told. However, it is often used only when other imagery is not available. 40% of UGC on television was related to Syria.

There is a significant reliance on news agencies in terms of discovering and verifying UGC. The news agencies have different practices and standards in terms of how they work with UGC.

News organizations are poor at acknowledging when they are using UGC and worse at crediting the individuals responsible for capturing it. Our data showed that: 72 percent of UGC was not labeled or described as UGC and just 16 percent of UGC on TV had an onscreen credit.

News managers are often unaware of the complexities involved in the everyday work of discovering, verifying, and clearing rights for UGC. Consequently, staff in many newsrooms do not receive the training and support required to develop these skills.

Vicarious trauma is a real issue for journalists working with UGC every day – and it’s different from traditional newsroom trauma. Some newsrooms are aware of this – but many have no structured approach or policy in place to deal with it.

There is a fear amongst rights managers in newsrooms that a legal case could seriously impact the use of UGC by news organisations in the future

This research was designed to answer two key questions. First, when and how is UGC used by broadcast news organizations, on air as well as online? Second, does the integration of UGC into output cause any particular issues for news organizations? What are those issues and how do newsrooms handle them?

The work was completed in two phases. The first involved an in-depth, quantitative content analysis examining when and how eight international news broadcasters use UGC. 1,164 hours of TV output and 2,254 Web pages were analyzed here. The second was entirely qualitative and saw the team interview 64 news managers, editors, and journalists from 38 news organizations based in 24 countries across five continents. This report takes both phases to provide a detailed overview of the key findings.

The research provides the first concrete figures we have about the level of reliance on UGC by international news channels. It also explores six key issues that newsrooms face in terms of UGC. The report is designed around those six issues, meaning you can dip into any one particular issue:

1) Workflow – how is UGC discovered and verified? Do newsrooms do this themselves, and if so, which desk is responsible? Or is UGC ‘outsourced’ to news agencies?

2) Verification – are there systematic processes for verifying UGC? Is there a threshold that has to be reached before a piece of content can be used?

3) Permissions – how do newsrooms seek permissions? Do newsrooms understand the copyright implications around UGC?

4) Crediting – do newsrooms credit UGC?

5) Labeling – are newsrooms transparent about the types of UGC that they use in terms of who uploaded the UGC and whether they have a specific agenda?

6) Ethics and Responsibilities – how do newsrooms consider their responsibilities to uploaders, the audience and their own staff?